World War Memoirs
by RichieAprile
Summary: A story of World War 3, as told by those who lived it. Presented as a series of interviews with an introductory piece in a similar, but more abridged literary style to that of World War Z. Please note that I do not own the rights to the Call of Duty franchise, and this story is purely for entertainment purposes.
1. Chapter 1

It has been two years since the end of the most devastating global conflict since the second world war. From the United States and Western Europe to Russia and even as far away as Sierra Leone, citizens and leaders alike try their best to rebuild their countries, their economies, and their lives. The conflict that has since become known as World War 3 took the lives of nearly 10 million people in a mere two months, serving as both a somber testament to and grim reminder of the destructive capabilities mankind has achieved in the decades since the last atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki in 1945.

Brett Howard is a Pulitzer Prize winning Associated Press journalist who has no shortage of experience, and is considered one of the most highly regarded practitioners of the craft since Walter Cronkite. With a distinguished career that began in 1986, he has covered conflicts spanning 5 continents, including Desert Storm, The Bosnian War, Afghanistan, Enduring Freedom, and now World War 3. The events from August 14, 2016 through October 14, 2016 gave us the who, what, and where. In an attempt to understand the how and why, Howard spent 6 months traveling around the globe, interviewing people from all walks of life in the nations involved.

His chosen style was that of listener, allowing those involved to speak their thoughts on the events leading up to, during, and after the conflict. The following quotes were taken from interview excerpts which seek to put a human element to the destructive conflict, with the ultimate goal of fostering a greater understanding of what drives people to commit such devastation, and to avoid a repeat occurrence in the future. This is their story.

 **CHAPTER 1 – THE PRELUDE**

 **Natasha Denisov, Resident of Vladivostok and supporter of the Ultranationalists:** "I was with my husband and two daughters in our flat when we first saw on television that Boris Vorshevsky had been elected President. We were so happy that we couldn't even speak. All we could do was hold each other and cry tears of joy. We felt that we finally had a voice, a real leader, someone who could give us back our dignity and our pride. Sure, there was still a lot of suffering in our country, but we felt that he (Vorshevsky) would restore Russia to its rightful place in the world, and give us the respect we had been craving for decades. I had heard the rumors about what the rebels were doing, but they were all lies. The west just couldn't stand the fact that someone actually wanted to stand up for ordinary Russians and not just the wealthiest among us. The first thing we did was to hold a massive celebration in the middle of our complex. It was an absolutely jubilant time. Everyone brought food and drinks to share. We danced, we played games, and those of us from the older generations sang patriotic songs from the old Soviet Republic, and even though we hadn't sang many of them for years, we remembered every word, every note, every tone. We taught them to our children and grandchildren, and it brought tears to my eyes again when I saw them sing those songs back to us. We hadn't felt a sense of solidarity like this since the days of (Leonid) Brezhnev. President Vorshevsky tapped into something we Russians had thought to be long lost – our sense of self. He gave us the confidence to show the world that we were still strong, especially America. He also knew of the corruption within our corporatist system that had been robbing those of us in the working class, and promised to finally hold them accountable for their actions. It was about time that the moral cancer of corporate cronyism would finally be dealt a decisive blow."

 **Pyotr Obolensky, student at Moscow State University and Loyalist supporter:** "I was in the commons studying for an exam when the news broke of Vorshevsky's victory. Aside from a few scattered cheers, the mood had suddenly become bleak and sullen. It was bad enough that the bad blood from the (Russian) Civil War was still simmering, but this was near unbearable. You could see it everywhere – the blankness in the faces of everyone from the instructors to the dean himself. It was even worse when we heard the news that the elections had been judged as free and fair by international observers. Let me clarify what I mean by that statement – it's not that I was upset over the elections being fair. After all, that was something I had always fought and protested for, especially when (Vladimir) Putin had been elected President the second time. Rather, I and others were upset because our fellow citizens had willingly elected a dangerous group of criminals who were reckless and sought to send us right back into the depths of oppression and despair, depths that my parents and grandparents struggled so hard to free us from in order to provide the younger generations with the opportunities that we have now. Don't get me wrong, I had my grievances with the government and with America too, but to resurrect outdated and regressive principles combined with an openly aggressive and hostile attitude toward the rest of the world? How would that help? What good would it do to give America and the west even more reason to be suspicious of us, especially when it was known that Vorshevsky had been linked to both (Imran) Zakhaev and (Vladimir) Makarov, who were known terrorists? It was at that very moment that I felt Russia had made a grave mistake."

 **Deborah Walker, Diplomatic Counselor in the United States Foreign Service:** "The results didn't really surprise anyone. We knew Boris Vorshevsky was riding a wave of revolution sweeping through Russia from Kursk to Chukotka, and they were determined to put him in office. The prevailing opinion among Russians was that he gave them a reason to be proud again, to stand up to their perceived subjugators and let Russia determine its own path. What they didn't know, of course, was just how much innocent blood had to be shed so Vorshevksy could even become a serious viable candidate, let alone win the Russian Presidency. Maybe he (Vorshevsky) knew what was going on in his name, maybe he didn't. Either way, he was now leading a party that came to power through terror and violence, and could expect some very tough questions from the international community. The mood among the American public was a mix of skepticism, apprehension, and suspicion. This was, after all, the most watched foreign election in American history. 5 years ago, nobody would have batted an eyelash. In fact, most probably couldn't even have told you where Moscow even was within Russia. But this was different. Everyone was paying attention now. That's what nuking 30,000 American soldiers in the Middle East will do. Once the results were announced and the exit polls conducted in Russia, Americans felt a sense of tension that we hadn't experienced since the 1980's."

 **Walter Hamilton, Foreign Correspondent for the BBC, London, UK:** "If you go back in history, Russians have always been a fiercely proud people who do not take kindly to humiliation. We Brits knew that first hand going back to the days of the Crimean War, all the way through World War Two. You have to understand, Russia had gone through some very embarrassing times during the Cold War, especially in the 1980's. There was of course the war in Afghanistan, which was supposed to demonstrate the capabilities and determination of the Soviet military, but only ended up in stalemate at best. Then they had to deal with the massive protests from the Baltic states, Solidarity in Poland, the Berlin Wall, and so on. And if all of that weren't enough, there was Chernobyl, which was an absolutely massive national embarrassment. And of course the coup de grace was the final collapse of the Soviet Union followed by a near 30 year period of rampant poverty, corruption, and disorder. Vorshevsky's ideals began to make their way through the State Duma when he was first elected as a representative back in 1996. By 2000, he was winning quite a few converts, enough to cause alarm at the executive level. Then in 2006, he was seen as a sort of "father" of the revolution that had begun in the more remote regions of the Urals, in Kazakhstan, and so on. And here we are today. He saw Russian citizens as his family, not just his constituents. He tapped into a sense of national pride that they hadn't felt since the Berlin Wall fell. Patriotism is a powerful thing. But this was more than just simple patriotism, this was nationalism."

 **Hans Krieger, construction foreman in Berlin, Germany:** "What had been happening within Russia and Kazakhstan due to the Civil War along with Al-Assad's nuclear attack was dire enough, but when I heard the Russian election results on the radio during my drive home from work, I was beside myself in shock. Now, we would have to deal up close and personal with the very same people who had been responsible for all of those atrocities. Of course, it was no surprise when Boris Vorshevsky "condemned" any such action and then denied ever having known Makarov or Zakhaev, but we all knew better. He wasn't fooling anyone. He may have moderated his position afterward, which I commend him for, but just the same, everyone knew where he had come from before the election. I thought back to the stories my father and grandfather used to tell me when I was a young boy – stories of the atrocities of the Reich, then of my father's time in East Berlin and how I hoped I would never have to experience anything like that ever again. Then, I remember going home and telling my wife: "We are in for some very dark days." That night was the quietest our house had ever been. It was almost eerie."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2 – THE MASSACRE**

 **Svetlana Zotov, Marine Biologist and survivor of the Zakhaev International Airport Massacre:** "It started as a pleasant day, in fact warmer than I remember being used to, even for August. I remember feeling very excited that morning because this was the day I would be traveling to Hong Kong for a six month assignment to study the migratory patterns of Chinese White Dolphins. Because the flight was international, I had to report and check in 4 hours early. Because the check in went a lot faster than I had expected, I had a few hours to spare before my flight boarded, so I decided to do a bit of wandering around. After spending some time watching various flights take off and land, I stopped at a café for a late morning breakfast. I had been sitting for about 15 minutes just observing the masses of people making their way toward their gates, and for some reason I vividly remember seeing a little boy of about 5 or 6 years running toward one of the gates looking so excited, with his parents trying to keep up with him, and it brought a smile to my face. That was the very moment when I heard what sounded like cannons going off from the other end of the airport, near one of the domestic terminals. At first, I had no idea what to think. Was it a bomb? A plane crash? Somebody dropping a crate of heavy equipment? Then immediately I heard the sounds of rapid booms and pops followed by blood curdling screams, and that's when I knew we were under attack. Before I could get a chance to process all of this in my mind, I saw a squad of airport security officers tell us to immediately proceed toward the nearest emergency exit, which was roughly 100 meters from where I was. All I could hear was screaming, and because of the panic, we all became a human traffic jam with everyone pushing and shoving trying to get to the exit. Maybe it was just morbid curiosity, but for a moment I looked behind me and saw 5 men in the distance. They were wearing what looked like tactical body armor and carrying machine guns. I didn't get a good look at their faces, but between gunshots, I could hear them speaking what sounded like perfect American English, which caused immediate alarm in my mind, especially seeing as how the Americans had not been friendly with us since the end of the Civil War. But I didn't have time to think about that at the moment. I just wanted to get out of there. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it to the exit, where I saw a whole army of police, firefighters, and paramedics. I saw bodies being loaded into ambulances, some were even in body bags. Blood was all over the ground. I think I even saw a severed arm, I don't know. I don't care to think about it.

After about an hour, it was announced that all flights had been cancelled, and we would have to remain at the airport until it was declared safe to return to our homes. Until then, I tried my best to stay calm and comfort those around me, especially the children, who were completely frightened. One little girl kept calling for her mother: "Mommy…Mommy where are you? I can't find you! Can you see me? Mommy where are you?" The poor child later found out that her mother had been killed by the attackers. Luckily, her father was supposed to meet them at the airport, and had been delayed in traffic when the attack started, so at least he was able to be there for her and not make the poor little girl an orphan. Her father had tears in his eyes when he broke the news to his daughter. She was strong, stronger than I ever could have been, but they both cried and just held each other. That sight more than any other is what suddenly caused me to burst into tears, as if all the emotion, fear, and distress had finally come bursting out of me. I sobbed uncontrollably for what felt like hours, time seemed to just freeze. Finally I was able to calm myself down, and it was then that I could hear sporadic conversations among the crowd, mostly wondering who the perpetrators were and why they had done such a thing. Some blamed Chechen rebels, others blamed ISIS, Al-Qaeda, even Chinese Special Forces…none of which made sense to me considering what I had heard. Then my suspicions were confirmed when I saw an older man come running up to us shouting, "The police found a body! Americans! They were American soldiers! They were speaking English and they had American military uniforms and weapons! Bastards! Murderers!" I turned pale and immediately felt ill. Then, I felt anger…an anger more intense than anything I'd felt in my life. Why? Why had they done this to us? What had these people done to them? I had always heard about how America didn't do those kinds of things to people, but at that very moment I remember thinking they were just savages who wanted to control everyone to do things their way, by their rules. I had always been apolitical my whole life, but that day...I became an ultranationalist. I wanted revenge."

 **Thomas Rourke, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Rutgers University, New Jersey** : "I had just returned from a global economics conference in Tokyo when I saw the news alert on my phone, big bold letters – "MASS SHOOTING AT MOSCOW AIRPORT – US MILITARY IMPLICATED." I have to be honest with you, I thought maybe it was a satirical headline because something like that is just so unheard of that you can't help but react with anything but skepticism. The US attacking an airport and indiscriminately killing civilians? It sounds ridiculous even saying it out loud. Granted, knowing what we know now, it makes sense in a very macabre way. But at the time, it was just a plain ridiculous to think the US could or would pull off a stunt like that. I had long been a critic of American foreign policy, but even I couldn't fathom the US ever doing something like this – essentially a Columbine style massacre sanctioned by the US government and carried out by US military personnel against a foreign nation, and Russia, of all places. I immediately called a friend of mine who had been to Moscow recently, and he confirmed my worst fears. So it was true – the United States government had authorized and subsequently carried out a senseless massacre of Russian and other foreign civilians, on Russian soil…at least, that's what I thought at the time. I then remember having this overwhelming feeling of panic as everything I had read and seen on the news over the previous months about Russian attempts to hack into NORAD and Pentagon cyber defense systems suddenly came to the forefront of my mind. Combine that with the fact that the massacre was sure to trigger a demand from Russian citizens to have their government declare war, and I think that moment was the closest I had ever come to a heart attack. The fear was _that_ real. I immediately called my wife at work and told her to come home as soon as possible. When she asked what was wrong, all I could say was, "I have a feeling the real question soon will be…what won't be wrong?"

 **Alexei Zakharchenko, Paramedic at Zakhaev International Airport:** "We were the first team to receive the call to Zakhaev Airport. At first, I didn't think it was serious. We took calls to the airport all the time for various reasons – someone falling ill, fainting, extreme dehydration from air sickness, things like that. I was totally taken aback when we arrived on scene at the airport. Bodies were everywhere from the boarding gates to the tarmac to the various restaurants and shops inside. The carnage was indescribable, so forgive me if I struggle to discuss everything, but I will try. There were so many bodies strewn about that for a second my teammates and I didn't even know where to start. My Captain, and I give him the utmost respect for this, he stayed calm and had us tend to the most seriously wounded first. As other teams arrived, we worked quickly to load the wounded…or at least those we deemed as having the highest chance of being saved or resuscitated. We worked for what felt like hours, loading bodies, tending to the wounded, trying to calm those so hysterical and crying for their mothers, their husbands and wives. A few of the younger guys got sick and threw up all over when they saw the blood, the bodies lying lifeless, some even having missing limbs or eviscerated midsections. Others broke down crying, much like the cries and screams of the crowds gathered outside. I made my way to the gate at the far north end of the airport, and that's when I saw something that will haunt me for the rest of my life – It was an elderly couple, I had known them well. I grew up right down the street from them as a child and had helped them with various household chores. They were lying on the ground…the old man…he…he was lying on his wife, trying to protect her. Lying next to them was a little girl, no older than 9 or 10…lying on her back, shot at least 5 or 6 times. Her eyes and mouth were wide open, as if her expression of terror was permanently captured. It was as if Beslan had repeated itself right in the heart of our nation.

I've been a paramedic for 20 years, so I've seen my fair share of gruesome injuries, but that day…that sight…(he briefly pauses and stares blankly into the ether as if trying to collect himself)…I still have nightmares about the things I saw that day, and probably always will. It was so bad that I felt catatonic the whole next day. I couldn't speak, I couldn't eat, I couldn't even sleep. All I could do was think about what I had seen and then wonder why. Why had this happened? Why those people? What had they done to deserve such a thing? When the news reports started to come in stating that the American military had committed the attacks with the approval of their government, I was dumbfounded. Of course now that the facts have since gone public, I realize that the American government wasn't necessarily to blame, but at the time I didn't know. None of us did. I just couldn't help but wonder what had made the Americans so mad at us. It just didn't register at first. I had been to America before, and I loved the people there. It just didn't make sense that they would elect leaders who were capable and willing to commit such atrocities against innocent civilians. That's when I went from shock and sadness to anger. I knew relations between Russia and America were not good, but for them to do something like this was just an abomination, to be honest. I remember thinking that the Americans had turned the place into a warzone. Little did I know just how prophetic those thoughts would be. If the Americans wanted war, then Russia would give them one."

 **Jonathan Doyle, American Exchange Student from the University of California:** "I had been selected to study abroad in Russia at the University of St. Petersburg for a year, and I was super excited. I remember I couldn't wait to go. I don't think I slept for about two days before the trip (laughs). Sure, I was nervous, but it had always been a childhood dream of mine to travel the world, and I felt this would be a great first taste of the world around me. Since my mother was Russian, my grandparents had come here in the 1960's, and since I grew up hearing both English and Russian in our house, I figured what better place to start than Russia? I'd always wanted to visit and learn more about my family, so hey why not? It was true that relations between the US and Russia had deteriorated quite a bit since Boris Vorshevsky's election, but there had been somewhat of an easing of tensions when he (Vorshevsky) reached out to the United States and tried to assure us that he had no aggressive aims toward the West or Europe. One of the first steps taken by the US and Russia was the permission of students in both countries to study abroad…Americans in Russia, and vice versa. But that's a whole different issue. Anyway, despite our governments' mistrust of each other, I have to honestly say that I absolutely loved the Russian people. They seemed to understand the difference between the American people and the American government, or at least for the moment they did. Everyone was very friendly and helpful to me when I first arrived, and it was genuine, you could tell. They weren't putting on some façade out of obligation, but rather genuine concern for my well-being. They also seemed to have a pride and love for their nation rivaling that of the most fervent patriots back home in the US. The Russian people seemed eager to show off everything their country had to offer to me. It seemed like genuine comradery.

Then…then the massacre happened, and just like that (he snaps his fingers), everything changed. Literally, overnight. People avoided me like the plague, and eventually that cold shoulder treatment turned to outright hostility. When I first arrived, people told me "Dobro pozhalovat', moy drug," meaning "welcome, my friend." Now, they called me "svin'ya (pig)," "varvar (barbarian)," or "suka (bitch)." As if the name calling weren't enough, then they started smearing food on the door to my room, burned American flags in front of me, made fun of me, that kind of thing. But then the harassment immediately escalated to threats. I remember that night, a note was slipped under my door. All it said was "Russia is going to destroy America. You will be the first casualty. Say goodbye to your family. Better look behind you from now on" in big bold typed letters. I didn't even bother trying to sleep, I was so terrified. I knew by this point there would be no reasoning with them, and I just sat silently all night, staring at my door, waiting for it to be kicked in and broken down by pissed off mobs. I didn't have anything to do with what happened, but there was nothing I could do about it, and I'd have been downright stupid to try and fight or argue with them because I was in a foreign country that would soon be at war with my homeland, and I was far outnumbered by angry Russians just itching for an excuse to bury me. The nation was traumatized. Anything and everything American was considered filthy and treasonous. Now I know what it must have felt like for Arab or Muslim Americans right after 9/11. The next morning, the Russian government voted overwhelmingly to sever relations with the US, and President Vorshevsky ordered all American citizens out of Russia within 24 hours as well as appealing to Russian citizens in America to "come back home and unite with your fellow Russian comrades." At about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, I received a phone call from a representative of the US Consulate in Moscow and told to proceed to St. Petersburg Airport, where I would be flown back to my hometown in (censored). I remember leaving that morning feeling like I was going to be swarmed by angry citizens and strung up right there in the quad, but it was eerily silent. I caught a cab to the airport, and spoke Russian in the most authentic accent I could muster so the driver wouldn't know I was an American. Once I got home, my parents couldn't stop hugging me and praising god that I was alright. That feeling of relief would not last long at all."

 **Marie Le Blanc, Small Business Owner in Paris, France:** "A friend of mine came running up to me in a panic while I was outside my shop having my morning coffee and a cigarette. She looked like someone had stepped over her grave. When I asked her what was wrong, she simply hurried me inside my shop and repeatedly urged me to turn on the radio, and that was when I heard the news – mass shooting at a Moscow Airport, hundreds dead and wounded in a coordinated attack, United States government and military implicated. I felt numb all over immediately. The attack was a completely horrific tragedy, for innocent people to be so mercilessly attacked and killed for no good reason. It was even more grotesque that the attack was carried out by the American military, and more grotesque still that the attack seemed to have been ordered and supported by the American government. This only seemed to reinforce the already prevalent attitude among Europeans that America had finally lost its mind and gone much too far. It was bad enough what they had done in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan…but, I don't know…I guess at least they were trying to go after the terrorists, or so they claimed. But this was different. This was a deliberate all-out attack on innocent civilians, not military, and not collateral damage. It was something we had always been told that only Muslim terrorists did. Liberal democracies didn't behave like that.

I immediately remembered how (Jacques) Chirac had criticized America back in 2002 when the Americans wanted to go to war in Iraq, and how mad the Americans became, and wondered now if they may do anything similar to us. But on the other hand, what scared my friend and I more than anything was what the Russian reaction might be. After all, they were sitting on the largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world, and we were only a stone's throw away in nuclear terms. And the Russians knew very well who the American allies were, and we knew that the threat was real. Boris Vorshevsky may have claimed to be a moderate, but he was still an ultranationalist, and much more extreme than even the most fringe elements of the mainstream Russian political parties who had held power previously. In the Russians' eyes, we were guilty by association, no matter how much our own government tried to plead for calm and assert that we had no knowledge of the attack and did not support it by any means. Offers of a joint investigation were promptly rejected by the Russians, not just from us, but from every government. We didn't know who to trust or fear at that point. Both sides seemed out of their minds and ready to fight to the death, no matter who got in the way. I hate to admit this, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit angry at the Americans and found myself blaming them as well. After all, they continuously claimed to be for peace and democracy, while at the same time dropping bombs and invading other countries for over a decade straight, maybe even longer. Now, the Americans had tried to push around a country that was more than capable of pushing back, and we were all in striking distance of both sides. That's when I really got scared."


End file.
